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Aimee Mann, to her own self true'Lost in Space' new album from singer-songwriter
By Todd Leopold (CNN)
(CNN) -- Aimee Mann is having fun. She's got a new album out -- "Lost in Space" -- on her own label, SuperEgo Records. She's in a happy marriage with musician Michael Penn. A longtime critics' darling, she's now earned some respect from media industry bigwigs after her songs were used for the soundtrack of Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 movie "Magnolia." One of them -- "Save Me" -- was even nominated for an Oscar. Not to mention that she's probably having more commercial success now than at any time since "Voices Carry," from her old band 'Til Tuesday, was a big radio and MTV hit back in the 1980s. Indeed, the "Magnolia" soundtrack sold more than 500,000 copies. Yet she can't seem to escape the pigeonhole that her songs are "depressing." Sure, the subject matter -- disappointing relationships, loss of identity, the crush of reality -- can be downbeat, but the lyrics are literate, the melodies are sweet, and the mood is thoughtful. Is there some kind of disconnect? Well, the pigeonhole is "understandable," Mann, 42, says in a phone interview from Los Angeles, but anyone applying the "depressing" label hasn't dug too deeply. "They're outside it," she says. "There might be telltale lyrical signs or chord changes, but I'd hope that musically I try to write good melodies and make good records. ... [Still,] you get a reputation and it's hard to break out, so I think, why try? My audience doesn't want chirpy rock 'n' roll anyway." Ups and downsAfter that initial success with "Voices Carry," Mann was pigeonholed in another way -- that of good-looking eye candy leading a poppy New Wave band. It wasn't until 'Til Tuesday's final album, 1988's "Everything's Different Now," that she started receiving notice for her songwriting abilities. Meanwhile, her personal life was having its ups and downs. She broke up with musician Jules Shear, an experience chronicled on "Everything's Different Now." She fought with record companies. Her first solo album, 1993's "Whatever," was released on a label that soon went out of business, leading to claims and counterclaims that took the better part of a year to settle. Her next album, 1996's "I'm With Stupid" (Geffen) had disappointing sales, despite featuring a song, "That's Just What You Are," that earned a spot on the "Melrose Place" soundtrack. There didn't seem to be any place for Aimee Mann in the modern record business. Then came "Magnolia," and suddenly Mann was able to call her own tune. She received that Oscar nomination. She released "Bachelor No. 2" on SuperEgo after it was rejected by Interscope. She and Penn were invited to the Vanity Fair Oscar party. She laughs about it, but she can't help but be pleased. "I feel really special, I do," Mann says. "No matter how temporary it may be. You're only as cool as your last cool project." She says she was able to do "Lost in Space" her way. "The other records weren't compromised by the labels," she hastens to add. But she wasn't concerned with putting some kind of hit single or '70s cover tune on "Lost in Space."
"The reason this record is different is because I grouped songs together that had similar themes," she says. "I didn't need it interspersed with uptempo songs. You can move from song to song very rhythmically and atonically." 'He's in the game'Mann's lyrical concerns remain bittersweetly close to the heart, equal parts vulnerability, longing and defiance. On "Lost in Space," addictions -- to love, to drugs -- also play a role. "Get out while you can/Baby, I'm pouring quicksand/And sinking is all I had planned," she sings on "Humpty Dumpty." Or "Real Bad News": "I've got love and anger/They come as a pair/You can take your chances/But buyer beware." But there's also determination. "The moth don't care when he sees the flame/He might get burned, but he's in the game," she sings on "The Moth." Meanwhile, "Lost in Space" is shot through with blazing, tough guitar runs, courtesy of producer Michael Lockwood. The album also features wistful cartoon art, by Seth, to match the music. When she came up with the title, Mann says, she had envisioned work by several artists, but Seth's work "was very appropriate because it has the same tinge of melancholy. He did a fantastic job." If there's a drawback to having a new record out on your own record label, it's doing the publicity. Mann has her own Web site -- www.aimeemann.com -- and mailing list, and she'll be on tour through the winter, but it's doubtful any of "Lost in Space's" songs will be played on most commercial radio stations. "You pay to get radio play, pretty much," Mann says, "and you get what you pay for. It's not really a level playing field." All you can do is plug away, she says. "That's the challenge, getting the word out. Because I do have an audience," she says. "It's just a matter of finding those people."
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